This article also brings up potentially unethical behavior on the part of online retailers--for example, hiding true costs until the last minute and using web coupons to compile data about the customer. Overall, it seems that there are no set guidelines for online retailers to follow, and if there are, they're not being followed. Furthermore, what about information privacy? Is it fair to deprive a customer of a deal because he doesn't want to provide personal information? The U.S. government often asks internet companies to provide intelligence for them, so what responsibility do online retailers have towards their customers? I hope that some guidelines are established to protect consumers so they are at the very least, aware of what happens when they shop online- what risks they have, what price discrepancies they may face, and most importantly, who can have access to any information they provide.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Shopping Online- Beware of Bad Behavior!
This Time Magazine article, What's Wrong with Online Shopping, discusses common bad behavior that online retailers exhibit. In many cases, there is major discrepancy between what a brick-and-mortar store offers as opposed to the online store. Apparently the retail and online divisions of the same store are often run by completely different groups, which seems like it could lead to confusion over the meaning of a brand. If something is expensive at the store, but a cheap discount item online, what does it mean for the brand? Furthermore, if you go into a store asking for something you saw online and the store doesn't have it, eventually you won't think of the two stores as being the same, further diluting the brand.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI agree. There are very few online consumer protection laws that disclose how companies are expected to conduct business over the internet. I just wanted to add to your point above.. it's not just Retailers who are exploiting user information; social networks are also very relevant to discussions about privacy. As I talk about in my blog (www.todaysmarketspace.blogspot.com); Social Networks have a plethora of information regarding users that could potentially help businesses profit, and it just doesn't seem right that our information would be disclosed to third parties without our consent. What's most concerning is that until recently, no one seemed to really care, so we as consumers have probably been exploited for a long time. Fortunately, this topic has finally started to get into the limelight so I don't think that authorities will be able to ignore online consumer protection and privacy for much longer. But I guess we'll see...
ReplyDeleteI think retailers didn't realize and missed how big, fast-growing and important would be the "e-commerce business unit" for all of them; and as a consequence are now having such trouble planning from all points of views (supply chain management, commercial strategy, customer service, brand management and others) their online retail system.
ReplyDeleteAmazon for instance can rely on its distribution systems and third party distributors for ensuring a best-in-class delivery service and at the same time provide good service in their website (this is the reason for me to use this site)
Because all of the reasons explained in the article (What's wrong with online shopping) made me think that big retailers (not all) have not take into account the potential market size of online sales.
The situation about why an item is only available online and not in stores had baffled me, I always wondered isn't it the same store? Never understood the rationale behind it. Why can't the same item that is being displayed on the internet also be available in stores? As pointed out by TIME magazine, they are operated by different people. Technically speaking, one is not receiving the same quality service that is being offered in stores. Isn't this classified as fraud or is this basically another example of outsourcing?
ReplyDelete